


A Starry Night in a Garden

by rangerkier



Category: BomBARDed (Podcast)
Genre: Artmarch2019, F/F, Fluff, Gen, MotA2019, that's about it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-09-24 05:40:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20353291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rangerkier/pseuds/rangerkier
Summary: Strumlott's is gonna host a dance! There's a bit of work to be done before the fun can begin. My March of the Arts gift for ZZDigital





	A Starry Night in a Garden

Chaos Sauce was in the cafetorium, sharing a table with Tabitha. The lot of them talked happily as they ate their lunches, making jokes and trying to come up with something the four of them could do other than grab the occasional meal together that would still comply with the busy practice schedule Gareth had whipped up for The North Stars. 

“I’m just sayin’...” Randy shrugged innocently. “You could just skip. It wouldn’t be the end of the world. If we got out of school, went to Lakeridge or Legno Land, they wouldn’t even be able to track you down to drag you to the practice rooms.”

“Easy for you to say, you don’t have to live with them. I’d never hear the end of it if I skipped practice,” Tabitha wore an expression of mild horror, like she was imagining the fallout if she went with Randy’s plan. “I mean, you’ve seen how bad Gareth is when I’m late. Imagine if I didn’t show up at all, especially if they found out it was purposeful,” she shuddered. 

“We’re not gonna make you get in trouble with your bandmates,” Yashee cut in before Randy could reply. She probably saw the mischievous grin he was wearing and didn’t want to hear his next suggestion. “Just make sure you give us a call if you have free time since our schedule’s more flexible than yours.”

“Y-yeah. Of course,” the blush on Tabitha’s face was only a few shades lighter than the strawberry she was taking a bite of. 

“Guys!” the three of them jumped as Raz’ul returned, slamming his hand on the table. He’d gotten up a minute ago to see if there was anything new on the Bulletin Bard and, if his enthusiastic return was anything to go off of, there was something good. 

“Don’t _do_ that!” Tabitha exclaimed, her hand gripping her sweater over her heart. 

“Sorry,” Raz’ul smiled sheepishly. “Check this out though!” he picked up the piece of paper he had slammed onto the table and held it up in front of them. Randy leaned forward to try to read it.

“A dance?” he asked for confirmation. He didn’t know most of the words on the flyer, but he thought that was one of the larger words at the header. That, and there was a graphic of two people dancing in the background so, context clues. 

Raz’ul turned his smile to him and nodded. The two of them didn’t really need an excuse to dance, with how often they snuck down to the club in the basement. But one where they wouldn’t have to be careful to not get caught could be cool. Then again the rule breaking and potential to get in trouble was half the fun, at least to Randy.

“And!” Raz’ul continued, sounding like that wasn’t even the best part. “They’re looking for volunteers to help plan it!”

Randy could tell that Raz’ul was pretty excited by this prospect. He, on the other hand, didn’t really get it. And a quick glance around the table told him Raz’ul was alone in his excitement. Tabitha looked interested, but she could just be trying to be polite.

“You guys don’t think that sounds fun?” Raz’ul’s expression dropped.

“I mean, the dance sounds fun,” Randy tried not to sound dismissive. “Planning it? Not really.” 

“You know I’m not that big on dancing to begin with,” Yashee shrugged.

“There’s more to a dance than just dancing!” he looked at Yashee before his eyes jumped around the table, moving from her to Tabitha. It wasn’t too obvious, but Randy was pretty sure he knew what was going through Raz’ul’s head. 

“I think helping with it could be a fun way to get involved,” Tabitha gave a small, good natured shrug, causing Raz’ul to positively beam at her. “What do you think you would help with, Raz’ul?”

“Probably decorating. I assume older students would get the responsibility stuff that actually goes into planning something like this, but decorating is something I could do. I could do like. flower arrangements.”

“_Flower arrangements?_” Randy asked incredulously. “Like- bouquets and stuff?”

“Yeah? Why do you sound surprised? You know all about the pot pourri.” 

“That’s not the same thing!” 

“I can do more than one thing, Randy. I’ll have you know I have several plant related hobbies.”

“Plant related hobbies?” Yashee asked with a snort. Randy joined in and chuckled at their friend’s expense.

“What’s so funny?” Raz’ul asked, slightly indignant now, with a blush creeping onto his cheeks. 

“I think it sounds great,” Tabitha put a comforting hand on Raz’ul’s arm, but her smile was almost a smirk as she tried to hide her amusement. “How do-”

“Tabitha!” she looked around as her name was called. Approaching their table was Ilda. “Ready for practice?”

“I’m not late am I? I was sure I kept track of everything today,” she seemed almost disappointed.

“No, but it starts soon and I was about to head up. I saw you over here and thought I’d grab you on my way up so we wouldn’t have to track you down later.”

Randy looked down at her, trying to decide if she was trying to be nice and keep Tabitha from getting in trouble with Gareth, or if she was just trying to save herself some effort later. He wasn’t sure. She noticed his gaze and made a face at him. So that hadn’t changed yet; she and Gareth still didn’t like Chaos Sauce and would probably try to forbid Tabitha from hanging out with them if they could get away with it.

“Thanks, Ilda. Just one sec,” she turned back to Raz’ul and continued her previous question. “Is there contact info or anything about how to volunteer?”

“Let’s see,” Raz’ul looked over the paper again. “It looks like there’s a meeting tomorrow at seven in room two seventeen. There were a bunch of flyers by the board if you want to grab one on your way out so you don’t forget.”

“Cool. Hopefully I’ll see you then?”

“Definitely,” Raz’ul grinned at her. 

“Okay,” Tabitha stood up and swung her bag onto her shoulder, gathering up her dishes. “Let’s go,” she glanced back down at Ilda before the two of them walked away together.

* * *

“You sure you don’t wanna come, Randy?” Raz’ul asked as he sat down next to him to pull his shoes on.

“I’m sure.”

“It’ll be fun! It’s not like you have to organize flowers, there’ll be a lot of different stuff that needs doing.”

“Raz’ul, do you remember when I got chased by a living music stand and flying swords? Cause I’d rather do that again than have anything to do with planning a dance.”

“Okay, sheesh. You don’t have to get so extreme; you could just say no.”

“I did. Twice if you count yesterday at lunch. So…” he shrugged casually, like nothing else had to be said. 

“Fair enough,” Raz’ul conceded with a sigh. “Yashee?”

“You know I already said no too, right? After Randy’s sass, do you expect better from me?” she smiled.

“I’m just sayin’, Tabitha said she’d try to make it, so,” Raz’ul shrugged in almost the exact same way Randy had moments before. 

Yashee blushed. “Yeah, but- Isn’t too obvious if I say I’m not interested in something, then show up anyway?”

“At this point, I don’t anything is too obvious for you guys.”

“Maybe not for me, but Tabitha’s smart! She’d know something was up.”

Raz’ul knew it was true that Tabitha was smart, but she could also be pretty forgetful and absentminded at times. He didn’t want to say that Yashee was giving her too much credit, so he wouldn’t, but he kinda thought it. “We can say I dragged you along if she questions it,” he offered. 

“I think I’d rather still pass. Like, I might just get bored or frustrated and end up looking like a jerk in front of her. I don’t want that. I should just wait for something we both want to do. Like Star Gazers! Even though other people sometimes show up now, we’re still the only two that are always there, so I can just hang out with her then!”

Raz’ul smiled softly at her. “I guess that makes sense. I’ll see you guys later,” he gave them both a wave as he walked out of their dorm. 

He rocked back and forth from his heels to his toes as he rode down the elevator to the second floor. Once there, he easily made his way to the room the meeting was in. He’d found it after class earlier to make sure he wouldn’t have trouble and end up being late. Strumlott’s had a lot of weird twists and turns such that sometimes you thought you knew where a room would be only for it to be somewhere else entirely. 

A few people were already in the room when he got there, some scattered about in the seats, a small group up front where the instructor would usually stand. A quick glance told him Tabitha wasn’t there yet, so he took a seat by himself.

There was a small number of people that arrived after him, taking a seat at one of the desks. After a few minutes, the group up front got everyone’s attention and started introducing themselves, their names and what they would be in charge of. Tabitha wasn’t there. 

Raz’ul sighed and listened to the student who was currently talking. He knew Tabitha hadn’t guaranteed she’d make it, but he’d really been hoping. Partially because he thought it’d be nice to have someone he knew around for this, and partially because he just wanted to hang out with her more. She was busy, both with The North Stars and some of her own work. He supposed he could finally start going to Star Gazers, but ever since he backed out of the first meeting so Yashee could hang out with her alone, he felt weird about the prospect of going, like he’d be invading or something. Oh well, there were bound to be other opportunities to spend time with her.

The next student started talking; this one seemed to be in charge of organizing things like food, drink and seating. Raz’ul had a bit of trouble paying attention, as much as he tried; he knew that wasn’t what he wanted to do. Not that he had no experience with it; he’d had to help plan balls and banquets back in Udalloli, he was more than capable of helping with that side of things. But the decorations had usually been left to someone else, only needing his input to say it was suitable. He wanted to actually have something to do with that stuff, with making something pretty. 

There was movement back by the door and several people, Raz’ul included, glanced around to see Tabitha trying to sneak into the room. She noticed Raz’ul and sheepishly walked further in, ducking down slightly so as not to block anyone’s view. She took the open seat next to Raz’ul and he smiled a greeting at her.

“Sorry,” she whispered, returning the smile. “I forgot until it was already time. Did I miss much?”

“Nah,” Raz’ul assured her. “I can catch you up after if you need.”

After that they both stayed quiet, listening to the continued introductions and the current game plan. Once everyone had said their parts, they split up, each of them going to a different table such that people could join the small committee that they were interested in being a part of. Raz’ul went to the table of the person who had been talking about the decorations, Tabitha following behind him. They sat down at the new table with a few others while their leader leaned against the next nearest table. 

“So, once again, I’m Mbira, and I suppose I’m in charge of the decorating,” they didn’t sound reluctant or annoyed as they ‘supposed’ they were in charge, more like they didn’t really consider that the proper terminology. “So, hopefully that’s what you’re all looking to do?” they smiled brightly around, teeth flashing brilliantly against their dark skin. There were nods and various noises of affirmation. “To start with, does anyone have any immediate suggestions? Some of you must be coming in with ideas, right?”

Raz’ul glanced around; the other few students that were sitting here were looking around nervously, trying to avoid eye contact in much the same way he was. Like the teacher had just asked a question and no one wanted to be called on. But… this wasn’t class, this was something they were all doing for fun. They shouldn’t be nervous about it. Tabitha gently nudged him and gave him an encouraging smile when he turned to her.

“Um,” he started awkwardly, getting everyone to look at him. That was a great way to start off, real smooth. 

“Yes, - What’s your name?” Mbira smiled at him. 

“Raz’ul. And I was thinking- Well, I’m a druid, so - bias, I guess - But, I really like plants, and working with them. And I think they make pretty good decorations, so…” he trailed off lamely and shrugged. “Maybe we could like, grow and raise certain plants to decorate the hall.”

“That sounds like a good idea. We already talked about having tables and seating for people to take a break or just hang out, and they could definitely use centerpieces. Anyone else?”

There was silence for another moment before Tabitha spoke up. “I- well, can I ask a question first?”

“Of course.”

“Is there a theme?”

“For the dance overall?” Tabitha nodded. “I don’t think so,” Mbira continued. “Do you think there should be one?”

“I don’t really know, but I just feel like the decorations especially should have something tying them together or it won’t really look coherent.”

“Are you worried cause you had an idea that you don’t think would work with Raz’ul’s? We’re having an incredibly preliminary discussion, if you have an idea, don’t hesitate to share it.”

“Well, I suppose, similar to Raz’ul’s idea, it’s just something I’m really interested in. And I just think they’re so beautiful. Stars! I need to actually tell you what I’m talking about. I think stars are really beautiful, and there’s some interesting ways they could be incorporated into decorations.”

“What about outdoors?” another student piped up.

“Outdoors?” Mbira turned to them for clarification.

“Yeah, like plants and stars,” they gestured toward Raz’ul and Tabitha as they mentioned their ideas. “Not necessarily for an overall theme, but something to base the decorations on. Like, a starry night in the forest, or a garden.”

“That sounds like it could be really cute. Anyone else? Remember, we’re bouncing ideas around, so if you have something completely different, don’t be afraid to speak up.”

For a while longer, they went around like that, giving new ideas and expanding upon them. To Raz’ul’s surprise, every now and then someone would backtrack to his idea. What if they set up trellises with climbing plants, what about hanging baskets? He knew plants were pretty common in decorating, houseplants and bouquets and things, but he hadn’t really expected other people to keep going back to them.

Eventually they called an end and dispersed, after being told there would be another meeting next week. Raz’ul and Tabitha filed out of the room between the other students, walking down the hall toward the elevators together. 

“This seems like it’s gonna be really fun,” Tabitha grinned down at him. 

“Yeah. I’m really glad you decided to come too.” Tabitha’s smile widened, an eyebrow raised almost teasingly. “I mean- it’s nice to have someone I already know around. I’m honestly not sure I would’ve spoken up if you hadn’t poked me.”

“It’s a good thing you did, people seemed to really like your idea!”

“Yeah, I wasn’t really expecting that.”

“Why not?”

“I guess. Most people seem to like plants, to have a bouquet of flowers or something in their house or room or whatever. But no one else seems to have the same appreciation I do. If that makes sense? That, and it’s one of those things I’ve gotten teased for a lot. I mean, you heard Randy and Yashee yesterday.”

“I’m sure people don’t mean anything by it. I know Yashee and Randy didn’t,” Tabitha spoke comfortingly.

“I know,” Raz’ul sighed. “I know people don’t mean anything. It’s just- that doesn’t mean it doesn’t mean anything to me.” He thought back to things people had said, things that weren’t supposed to mean anything. Things from further back, well before he knew his bandmates. He remembered one of those things being forcibly dragged out of him and everyone laughing at him. 

“I’m sorry.”

“What?” Raz’ul looked up. He only realized he had drawn his shoulders up toward his ears when he lowered them back down. “Why are you sorry?”

“About yesterday. I didn’t really say anything, but I did kind of laugh at you too. I didn’t intend to be mean, but… I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Raz’ul smiled softly at her. “That wasn’t really that bad, it was just an example that I know you were there for. It’s not like I’m even upset at Randy, and he’s the one who started it. I’m definitely not upset at you at all.”

“I can still be sorry.”

“Guess so,” he turned away and looked at the floor, still smiling. “Thanks.”

* * *

Randy was sitting alone in the living room of their dorm, starting to get frustrated with his homework and himself. He was getting better with reading, Raz’ul and Yashee had been teaching him specific words that came up in barding a lot so he could work on homework on his own more easily, plus he was starting to get the hang of sounding out words based on the spelling. But that didn’t mean he didn’t get a headache from staring at a word he didn’t know, trying to sound it out and remember how different combinations of letters made different sounds. He could ask for help, but Raz’ul was off at one of the dance planning meetings and Yashee was in her room with the door closed. He pushed the papers away from him, deciding he’d give it another go later, either when the pain in his head had lessened or one of his friends could help him. 

He got to his feet and made his way over to the kitchenette, where he opened the mini fridge to see what they had to drink. Some of the usual stuff, different juices, and a bit of the lemonade Raz’ul had made the other day. He grabbed that pitcher and set it on the counter before climbing up to grab a cup out of the cabinet. They usually left some in easier to reach places for him and Raz’ul, but sometimes Yashee instinctively put them all away. He poured his glass and returned the pitcher to the fridge. 

A few moments after he sat down and took a few sips of his drink, there was a quiet thud from another room. It was followed by an exclamation that may have been a curse, though it was hard to tell with a wall muffling it, and a much louder crash. Randy set his cup down on the coffee table and hurried toward Yashee’s door.

“Hey, are you okay? Can I come in?”

“Yeah.” Randy realized the mistake in asking two questions as he wasn’t sure which that was an answer too. Yashee solved the problem when she continued. “Yeah, you can come in.”

He opened the door and stepped in to find Yashee on the floor at the end of her bed, rubbing at her foot. She sat up slightly straighter after a moment, but kept her foot close to her so she could continue massaging the pain out of it.

“You okay?” he asked again, wanting to be sure on that front before asking anything else. 

“Yeah. Just hurt my foot a bit, but it’s no big deal.”

“What happened?”

“Kicked the leg of my bed.”

“What’d you do that for?” Randy smirked at her. 

“It’s not like I _meant_ to,” she made a face at him. “It was an accident.”

“Did you just walk too close to it?” Randy glanced around like her room would somehow answer the question. 

“No, I was-” she cut off, sounding almost awkward. “I was trying to learn how to dance.”

“You… you already know how to dance, though.”

“I can like. listen to music and just do what feels right. But I can’t actually dance. Like you would see in a ballroom or whatever. With… with a partner,” a blush rose to her cheeks. 

And a grin crept onto Randy’s. “Are you trying to learn how to dance so you can ask Tabitha?”

Her blush intensified. “Maybe. I mean, you guys keep pestering me to do something, so…”

Randy’s smile dropped a fraction. “You’re not just doing this because of that, right? Because of me and Raz’ul poking you?”

“I mean, I’m doing it because of that, but not_ just_ because of that, you know. Cause. I do want to. But I also need a push. So…” she shrugged uncertainly. “Not like I’m getting anywhere,” she looked around at her current position on the floor. “Do you know how to dance? You could help me?”

“Not the kind of dancing you’re looking to learn. Besides, our height difference might make it kinda hard for me to teach you,” he stood next to her and realized that he was still shorter than her, even with her sitting on the floor. 

“Heh, I guess so.”

“There’s definitely _someone_ who could teach you. I mean, we’re at a bard school; there’s dance bards. I wonder if anyone’s offering lessons, maybe we should check the Bulletin Bard. It would make sense with a dance coming up, right?”

“I guess so. Should go down there to check? Or just make sure we remember next time we get food?”

“It’s up to you,” Randy shrugged. 

“I guess let’s just wait. It doesn’t really seem worth it to go all the way down there just to check the board.”

“Alright. Well, in the meantime, you wanna give your toes a break and come sit with me? I think there’s enough lemonade left for another glass.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Yashee smiled and the two of walked back to the common area together.

* * *

“I really like the idea of getting some lights on the ceiling to mimic the stars,” Mbira said, leaning against a table and looking up at the ceiling. “I’m just not sure what would work best.”

“Could we get something up there, and then cast something, similar to Light maybe, to illuminate them? Maybe ensemble magic would work best if we could get something on the ceiling that the casters can target.”

“That could work. Getting something up there to target sounds like a good plan. We still need to figure out how to connect it though.”

Tabitha hummed thoughtfully, looking at the ceiling as she wondered further on the predicament. Was there some other spell they could use to get something to stay up there? They’d have to make sure they cast it often enough that it wouldn’t wear off.

“Mbira! Can we get your help for a second?”

“Yeah!” they responded to the people calling for them. Then they turned back to Tabitha. “I’ll be right back, keep thinking on this for now?”

“Sure thing.”

Mbira smiled at Tabitha’s response before walking away. Tabitha turned away, looking back at the ceiling. She wasn’t completely sure what spell could get something to stay up, or was there something else they could use that work better? She thought about ensemble magic again and how Chaos Sauce could probably manage whatever they needed; they didn’t seem to completely follow the rules of ensemble magic. She looked down from the ceiling and saw someone approaching her. Speak of the devil. Or one-third of the devil?

Raz’ul stopped next to her and smiled. “How’s it going?”

“Alright. Trying to figure out how to get the ceiling to look like the night sky. Did you take care of that plant problem?” she’d overheard some people wondering why some of their plants seemed to be dying and pointed them toward Raz’ul to help them. 

“Yeah. One of them just needed a bigger pot. We don’t actually have any, so someone was going to stop by Kage’s to see if he has one he could loan us. The other one was overwatered, so I explained how to tell how much water a plant needs. Word of advice, if you ever learn Speak with Plants, don’t talk to a plant you know is overwatered because someone else doesn’t believe you,” he shuddered a bit. 

“I guess it was unpleasant?” she wondered what exactly he’d heard. 

“It mostly just screamed ‘drowning’ a lot.”

“Ugh,” Tabitha made a face of sympathy. “Sorry about that.”

“Thanks. Anyway, stars?” he turned his face toward the ceiling.

“Yeah. We were wondering if we could attach something to the ceiling and use ensemble magic to cast something like Light on all of it. Trying to figure out how to attach something, since having a target would make it easier.”

“What if there was something that just glowed on its own?” Raz’ul wondered, looking like he had a specific idea. 

“I guess that solves one of the problems. You got something in mind?” Tabitha looked down at him. 

“Maybe. Something from one of our assignments…”

“Hold that thought,” Tabitha noticed Mbira heading back their way. “I was talking it out with Mbira, you should tell them too.”

“Okay, that’s taken care of, sorry ‘bout that.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she assured. “I was talking to Raz’ul about the star idea, and he has a suggestion.”

“Yeah. When we had an assignment in the Stri desert, there was a place there called the Glowfield. It was just covered in rocks that glow in the dark. I know there’ll be light in here, but it’ll be dim, right?” Mbira nodded. “So that might be enough that those would work. I don’t know exactly how easy it is to get our hands on them. I guess the Basomites kinda like us since we helped them, so they might send us some. Or I could ask Splash.”

“That sounds promising, but it would be nice if we could test them, to make sure they’d be bright enough to look good in dim light before we figure out how to get enough.”

“I actually have one,” Raz’ul offered. “I could bring it sometime and you can check it out.”

“That would be good. The three of us can see it and decide if they would work.”

“Actually, should I run and grab it now? So we’re not waiting on this decision to keep working on this.”

“If you don’t mind?”

“Course not. I’ll be right back,” Raz’ul gave them both a small wave and walked out of the room. 

While they waited for him to return, Tabitha and Mbira continued talking about the predicament of getting the stones to stay up and in place. There were enough spells that were similar enough to what they needed that perhaps, with a little ensemble magic, they could make one of those work. After a few moments Raz’ul returned, holding a plain black rock about the size of his fist. 

“It’s really bright in here right now,” he said after he greeted them. “So it just kinda looks like a rock. But if you look at it when it’s a bit darker it’ll glow.”

“Let’s head into the next room and we can mess with the lights to see how it looks,” Mbira suggested. 

They didn’t have precise control of the brightness of the lights, but there were several switches that they could turn on and off for at least a few different levels. They looked at the stone close up and put it on the other side of the room to see if distance would affect their opinion of it, since it would be on the ceiling if they used this.

“I think it looks pretty good,” Mbira decided, glancing at Tabitha and Raz’ul for their opinions.

“Yeah. It’s not like they’ll light up the room, but we don’t need them too. Just to be visible, really, and it seems like it’ll accomplish that easily enough.”

“So, you think you can get more of these?”

“Probably,” Raz’ul answered. “I mean, we kinda saved the town, so I’m pretty sure the people would be willing to do me this favor. I can ask Splash for advice before I go to straight to them.”

“Cool, we’ll leave that to you then,” Mbira grinned. “Let’s get back to work.”

* * *

Yashee stood in her room, looking in wardrobe contemplatively. She knew that the dance was a more formal affair, but she hadn’t been too worried about it, she had a suit that was pretty nice that should work. Unfortunately, she had forgotten that she had opted to rip the sleeves off rather than change before the Academicon. So. not so nice anymore. That was the only thing she had though. Which apparently meant that she had to go shopping. 

She walked out of her bedroom and into the common area where both the boys were. They were sitting on the floor between the couch and the coffee table, a couple of books open in front of them. Randy looked like he was just starting to get frustrated with whatever they were doing, while Raz’ul was trying to remain patient.

“Look, I know what I said, but I’ve made it this far without knowing how to read, do I really need to learn now?”

“You literally listed several times that knowing how to read would have helped you avoid trouble over the years, who’s to say situations like that won’t come up more?”

“If I’d known that p’s could sometimes be f’s I might’ve felt differently about it.”

“It’s p-h that can make the same sound as an f, not just a p.”

“Why isn’t it just an f then?!” Randy threw his head back against the sofa. 

“I don’t know, but it’s not!” it sounded like Raz’ul was starting to lose his patience as well and Yashee thought it was probably best to step in before the argument could get out of hand. 

“Hey guys?” she interrupted before one of them could speak again. They both turned to look at her, giving her their attention. “Do- uh. Do you guys have clothes for the dance?”

They both seemed surprised by the question but quickly looked thoughtful. 

“I guess not,” Raz’ul mused.

“Me neither.”

“Do you guys wanna go shopping? It doesn’t have to be right now. I guess it could though, we don’t really have anything going on. Cause I forgot I ripped the sleeves off my suit and I probably shouldn’t wear ripped clothes for it.”

“Heh,” Randy smirked at the memory. “Yeah, probably not.” 

“I’d be good to go into Lakeridge for some shopping right now. We definitely need to take a break from reading lessons anyway,” he glanced meaningfully at Randy.

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll rip each others’ throats out if we’re left alone for any longer, let’s go shopping.” Randy pushed himself up from the table and immediately moved toward the door. 

“You know both of us need to put shoes on before we can go, right?” Yashee wondered, moving to pick hers up from the mat next to the door.

“Don’t understand why you bother with those things.” Despite that, he waited while they got ready without complaining further than his joke. 

The three of them left school and made their way to Lakeridge, exchanging friendly banter the whole way. Randy wondered if Yashee would get a replacement suit or if she would wear a dress for the dance. She responded by asking if he would wear a dress, thinking the answer would be a definite no. He said that he’d wear a dress to the dance if she did. It could be hard to tell with Randy, but she was pretty sure he meant it. Not that it would get her to wear a dress. She found they always limited her movement, whether by being too tight or having too much extra fabric. Pants were so much easier.

Once in town, they got quick directions to a store that would have an assortment of formal clothes. Apparently there had been a lot of students coming down to find something, so the guard guessed what they were after before they could even ask. Once in the shop, they automatically moved to the side that had that suit pieces since none of them were planning on wearing a dress. Unless Raz’ul was just keeping quiet about it. 

“What were you thinking of getting?” Raz’ul wondered. The question seemed to be open to both of them, but Yashee saw him glance up at her.

“Probably something similar to the last one,” Yashee shrugged.

“Come on! You should go more adventurous than a plain black suit!”

“Adventurous?” she looked around at some of the brightly colored and patterned jackets and pants on the racks around them. 

“I’m not saying get that one,” Raz’ul indicated the vibrant red jacket she was currently looking at. “Maybe like a black and white pattern?” he pointed out one with some sort of hatching pattern on it. “Or one of the less ostentatious colored jackets?” he held out the sleeve of a deep purple jacket. 

“I dunno. I like the simple stuff.”

“You don’t have to. But I mean, it’d certainly be more memorable,” he smiled up at her.

“Why are you smiling like that?” she examined the grin and tried to figure out what it reminded her of. Then she realized. “Like you do whenever you try to get me to do something to hang out with Tabs or get her attention!”

“Not everything is a ploy to get you two together.”

“Yeah, so I don’t know why you’re smiling like it is.”

“I’m not! I’m just smiling! I think something a bit more interesting than black would look good on you. I know you don’t like being the center of attention, so I’m not saying get something showy, but…” he shrugged and trailed off. He did seem genuine, in his defense.

“I’ll think about it,” Yashee smiled at him. As they started looking in earnest, she tried to keep an open mind and looked at some of the colored and patterned ones. 

The three of them split up, looking for things for themselves. Occasionally one of them would grab the others’ attention, to show something they thought they’d like, or to ask an opinion. Or sometimes to share something they thought was truly horrendous. They tried on different things and modeled for each other, jokingly striking poses and flipping their hair. 

Raz’ul ended up taking his own advice and finding a purple suit with black lapels. The color was almost regal, though Yashee didn’t describe it as such out loud. She didn’t know if it was purposeful or subconscious that the runaway prince chose something that seemed almost fitting for royalty, but she didn’t want to affect his decision with it. He looked good in purple. 

Randy stayed simple with the pants but chose a green vest with a subtle swirling design, paisley, Raz’ul called it. The colors that made up the swirling shapes were similar enough to the green that the design wasn’t garish, but added depth and interest to the garment. Randy also tried to argue against him getting a jacket, insisting that he wouldn’t wear it anyway. Raz’ul ended up convincing him against it, saying if something else came up where he needed a full suit he wouldn’t want to be down a jacket. 

The process that led to Yashee’s new outfit wasn’t as straightforward. She’d found a shirt she liked a lot, a bright sky blue. She did realize that it was a color she thought Tabitha would like, but she absolutely refused to admit that aloud; she wasn’t going to give Raz’ul that ammunition. And she did try to find something other than a plain black jacket, but she couldn’t find one she really liked. Once Raz’ul learned of her dilemma, he joined in her search, pointing out more simple patterns that wouldn’t make the whole outfit too loud. Eventually she decided that two patterned pieces was simply too much for her, and ended up with a pair of pants with some sort of checked? plaid? pattern on it and a plain black jacket. Nothing actually matched but it all seemed to look good together.

* * *

The night of the dance had arrived. Randy was the first one ready and sat in the living room of their dorm waiting for the others. He knew Raz’ul would probably pester him about it, but he’d left the jacket he bought in his room. He wasn’t planning on wearing it at all, so he wasn’t about to bring it. It was just something to keep track of. 

Yashee was next, walking out of the room while doing up the button on her jacket. Her hair was done in a braid down the back of her head that ended at her neck so that the rest of it flowed loosely around her shoulders. She held her arms out and gave a questioning smile.

“Lookin’ good,” he grinned and gave her a thumbs up. 

It was a few more minutes before Raz’ul came out. It was clear why he took the longest and his hair and beard were done with even more intricate and detailed braids than they normally were, glittering pins and flowers that matched the color of his suit woven in throughout. He smiled at them both before he spoke. “Ready to head down?”

Randy and Yashee nodded confirmation as they stood up from the sofa together. Randy started toward the door before slowing down, remembering that the other two needed shoes. When he looked back, he saw they were already wearing them, and continued out the door, toward the elevator and, eventually, the dance. 

The three of them entered the hall, pausing for a brief moment to look around before they hurried to get out of the way of the students behind them. There were large potted plants on either side of the door, taller than him and Raz’ul and covered in large, vibrant flowers. 

Off to one side of the hall there were circular tables set up where people could take a break and just sit for a while. Additionally, there was a long rectangular table with bowls and plates of punch and easy finger foods. More plants sat at either end of the large table, and small ones acted as miniature center pieces on the others. There were banners and ribbons that matched the tablecloths draped artistically around the room. As they drew attention upward, it could be seen that the ceiling was covered in small lights that seemed to mimic the night sky. Randy vaguely remembered Raz’ul talking about the Glowfields in Basom recently and wondered if this was why, if the lights on the ceiling were stones from the fields. 

“You did a lot of good work here it looks like,” he elbowed Raz’ul teasingly and smiled at him. 

“It’s not like it was just me,” Raz’ul sounded a little awkward at the praise, but smiled anyway. 

“Y’know, when you talked about doing floral arrangements as decorations, I was expecting like. bouquets or something. Not potted plants on every table,” Yashee commented, looking toward one of the nearby plants.

“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting people to as into the idea of plants as decorations, so it ended up being a bit more involved than I thought.”

“That’s pretty cool though! They look great!”

“Thanks,” Raz’ul blushed a bit. “Anyway, should we hit the dance floor?”

“Oh, you know it!” Randy exclaimed. He hurried in the direction of the large open space, clearly meant for dancing. It was early, so not many people were actually dancing quite yet, but that wasn’t about to stop him or Raz’ul; Yashee seemed a bit uncomfortable but followed them anyways. After a few moments of her awkward dancing interspersed with either him or Raz’ul grabbing her hand and spinning with her or getting her to join whatever move they happened to be doing at the moment, she loosened up and danced more easily and freely. 

The hall and dance floor slowly filled up around them, but they were having too much fun to really take notice. At least until they agreed they should take a break and grab a drink and realized there was a labyrinth of dancers for them to make their way through to get to the refreshments.

* * *

Yashee watched Tabitha talk to another group of students; she didn’t know who they were, maybe people from one of her classes. But she hardly even took notice of that fact, too busy looking at Tabitha. Her dark hair was done up with what looked like an assortment of tiny, white-jeweled pins, a few strands left loose to curl around her ears endearingly. The dress she wore was dark blue, some sort of lace filling in the space between her throat and the neckline. Swirling layers of brightly colored thread and beads stretched from her shoulder to her hip, mimicking the appearance of the night sky. At her hip, the design spread out, keeping the skirt interesting but not cluttered. Yashee felt her cheeks warm slightly. 

“Gonna ask her to dance?” she could hear the smile in Raz’ul’s voice as she felt his elbow jab gently into her side. She looked down to meet his gaze and saw the smile; it was somehow both teasing and encouraging all at once. 

“She’s talking to people right now,” Yashee gestured toward the group.

“Well, not right this second,” he agreed. “But in general? At some point?”

“I don’t know. Maybe?” she felt her nervousness beginning to spike as she considered the prospect. 

“Yashee, you literally took lessons so you could dance with her, you can’t give up now,” Randy reminded her matter of factly. 

“Wait, you took lessons? How did I miss this?”

“A lot of it actually lined up with your planning stuff, so you probably just didn’t notice,” Yashee shrugged.

“Well, whatever! Randy has a point. If you went to all that trouble, you can’t get cold feet now. You’ve got to ask her!”

“But… What if she says no? What if she thinks I’m weird or something?”

“Seriously, trust me. She’s not gonna say no.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Who’s spent at least one night a week with her for the past month?” Raz’ul raised an eyebrow at her. “Just, it’ll be fine, I promise.”

“I’ve spent more time with her at Star Gazers,” Yashee countered.

“Then you should know you have nothing to worry about!”

“I guess so,” she looked back toward Tabitha and saw that her and the group she was with seemed to be saying their goodbyes. 

“Looks like you’ve got a chance now,” Raz’ul took notice too and smiled up at her.

“I…”

“You need some Heroism? I can cast it on you if you’re too nervous.”

“I don’t think so. I think I can do without it. And I want to?”

“Alright, well. Whenever you’ve psyched yourself up enough, I guess,” he patted her encouragingly on the arm. 

“Yeah, yeah. I got this,” she took a deep breath and started walking forward. The time it took her to reach Tabitha was somehow both infinite and all too short. 

Tabitha noticed her approach and smiled brightly at her. “Yashee! Hey!”

Yashee wasn’t sure if her heart stopped, or if it simply started beating too quickly for her to even feel it anymore. “Hi, Tabs!” she tried to act natural. “I was wondering if you might want to dance? With me?”

“Oh!” a blush raced up Tabitha’s cheeks. “Ye- yeah, I’d love to! I mean, sure,” she held her hand out toward Yashee. 

She realized she was supposed to take it and lead her out to the dance floor. It wasn‘t awkward, just incredibly nerve wracking, but she did it anyway. They stopped once they reached a clear spot on the dance floor, where they turned to face each other and began to dance. 

It took some effort and remembering what she’d been told in the dance lessons, but Yashee managed to keep from looking at her feet. She was worried of stepping on Tabitha’s, but despite her instincts, she knew it was best to trust herself and keep from looking down. Even when Yashee was pretty sure she made a messy misstep, Tabitha easily adjusted to match her; she seemed to be really good at this. 

Yashee was pretty sure her face was going to catch fire any minute now. Tabitha’s hand was in one of her own; Yashee’s other hand was placed gently on Tabitha’s waist. They moved carefully around the dance floor, Tabitha more gracefully than Yashee. Every time Yashee felt her movements were clunky, she was worried it was going to turn out disastrous, like she would crash them into one of the other couples. 

Tabitha smiled up at her and the embers beneath her cheeks burned brighter. She smiled back, somehow making even that feel clumsy, before she looked toward the ceiling to break eye contact. She looked at the lights scattered here and there across the ceiling. They were really pretty, they almost looked like…

“The Unstrung Harp,” she recognized, naming the constellation aloud before she could catch herself. In her peripheral vision, she could see Tabitha look up as well. They made eye contact again and Tabitha beamed at her. 

“You remembered.”

“Ye-yeah.”

“And there’s the one you made up that looks like a Zil,” she nodded to another section of the ceiling. 

Yashee glanced up, even though she knew what she would see. She looked back and smiled. “_You_ remembered.”

“Of course.”

_Something_ overcame Yashee. She wasn’t completely sure what it was, affection or adoration, perhaps? But she laughed softly and pulled Tabitha closer to her into a hug. Their movements became slightly less coordinated as they continued trying to dance while holding each other in an embrace. After a short moment, Yashee figured she should release Tabitha so they could continue moving with their previous grace. Or at least, Tabitha’s grace. She loosened her hold and Tabitha stepped slightly away, but not to their previous distance. Closer together like this, all Yashee’s worries somehow left her. Her missteps didn’t matter, she knew they wouldn’t cause disaster. She danced easily with Tabitha, slowly and happily making their way around the dance floor.

* * *

“Mitch is sitting over there,” Raz’ul leaned against the table next to Splash, casually gesturing toward the stablehand. 

“Yep,” Symbol agreed, taking a sip of his drink and not looking away from his scan of the dance of the dance floor. 

“You should go ask him to dance,” he’d already gotten Yashee and Tabs dancing, might as well keep it going. 

There was an undignified sound and he was pretty sure Symbol inhaled some of his drink. He collected himself and tried to look casual again, but Raz’ul smirked up at him. “Why would I do that?”

Raz’ul paused, unsure how to answer that. It had been easy enough to talk Yashee into it; both she and Tabitha were his friends, he knew them well enough to answer. But it wasn’t like he’d ever even had a full conversation with Mitch. And even though he’d had plenty of friendly conversations with Splash and his bandmates, and even more without them thanks to joining the College of Glamour, Raz’ul realized how awkward it was for him to get involved in his love life. They were student and teacher after all, not friends. But he’d been wondering for a while if Mitch and Symbol were dating. And if they weren’t, Splash definitely had a thing for Mitch; everytime Mitch got brought up in conversation Symbol was quick to mention how great he was. 

“Are you saying you don’t want to?” he went with, rather than properly answering the question. 

Symbol raised his glass again, like he could hide behind it. It wasn’t quite enough to keep Raz’ul from seeing the pink that had reached his cheeks. “I’m supposed to be keeping an eye on things and making sure nothing gets out of hand, what I want doesn’t really matter.”

Raz’ul felt his shoulders drop. Even though it was mixed with the excuse of being a chaperone, it was sad. _What I want doesn’t really matter._ He didn’t really think that did he? “What can happen during one song? Besides it’s not like you’re the only one keeping this thing from going up in flames. You can take a break.”

He didn’t really respond, just shrugged noncommittally. 

“You’re not even doing the dance chaperone thing of going around making sure people aren’t too close together while dancing. Excuse me, six inches please,” he put on a voice and pretended to be pushing a couple away from each other. “Be proper! Six inches, please!”

Symbol looked down at him with a bemused smirk. “People don’t actually do that, do they?”

“Sure they do!” Raz’ul remembered seeing it back in Udalloli. That was mostly a parent pushing someone away from their own child, but other people had joked about it during the planning and decorating; it sounded like a bit of a universal experience. 

“Has it happened to you?” he raised an eyebrow. 

Raz’ul froze briefly, remembering the banquets and balls back in the mountain. He’d never really gotten the chance to have it happen to him. Being a prince, it wasn’t really appropriate for him to mingle and dance much. “Not me specifically, but I’ve seen it happen”

“Well, I don’t think it’s necessary to prevent contact between anyone. And hopefully it doesn’t get to the point that I do actually have to do something to seperate people,” he made a face and Raz’ul laughed. 

For a moment, they stood in silence, leaning against the table and people watching. Raz’ul glanced back up at Splash and spoke again. “So… gonna go ask him?”

Symbol threw his head back and groaned. 

“If you don’t, I will,” Raz’ul threatened, just trying to be annoying now. “Or I’ll ask you? Which is more annoying?” he supposed asking Symbol to dance would be less awkward given that he knew Raz’ul was just being obnoxious. 

“You’ll ask me to dance if I don’t ask him?”

“Yeah. May I have this dance, and all that,” Raz’ul bowed slightly and held his hand out. 

Symbol looked down at him, a bemused smirk on his face. “You know what? Fine.” 

Raz’ul grinned, thinking his plan had been a success. Then Splash grabbed his hand and his expression dropped. “Wait, what?”

Setting his drink on the table behind them, Symbol shrugged, infuriatingly nonchalant. “You asked me to dance, I’m saying yes,” he started toward the dance floor, pulling Raz’ul after him.

“No! That wasn’t- You were supposed to ask Mitch!”

“But you asked me, and it would be rude to refuse,” he looked back, wearing a smile that he was clearly trying to keep from being a shit eating grin. 

Raz’ul stammered some more, trying to figure out how to backpedal out of this. He was pretty sure his face was the warmest it had ever been when Symbol stopped and turned to face him, readjusting their hands and putting his other hand on Raz’ul’s shoulder. Raz’ul refused to move his other hand, to move at all, standing stock still.

“Why, Raz’ul, don’t you know how to dance?”

Now he was almost indignant. Did he know how to dance? “I’m a -!” he cut himself off before he could finish the exclamation. It wasn’t so much that he didn’t want Symbol to know he was a prince; he might already know, he hadn’t exactly hidden it. But he definitely didn’t want everyone within earshot to know. “Of course I know how to dance!” he finished, a bit quieter. 

“Well, we’re a bit limited on options, since I can’t really reach your waist, nor can you reach my shoulder, so…”

In spite of himself, Raz’ul laughed. They probably made quite the pair, trying to dance with their height difference. He relented and put his free hand on Symbol’s waist, finally starting their dance.

* * *

Randy sat against the wall on the edge of the room. A few tables had freed up since he’d sat down, but he wasn’t planning on being off the dance floor for long so he didn’t bother moving. He sipped his drink and vaguely watched the dancers. He’d seen Yashee and Tabitha dancing after Raz’ul had convinced Yashee to go ask, but he’d lost track of them a while ago. Not that he really felt the need to keep an eye on them, it felt a little too close to spying on his friend for his comfort, so he didn’t try to find them again. 

Then he saw something interesting. Splash was walking out onto the dance floor. Behind him…

_Oh my god,_ Randy smirked to himself. 

Raz’ul was being dragged behind Splash. It was a bit far to make out details, but he could see the discomfort and embarrassment in the way Raz’ul held himself. And Splash almost looked vindictive, but still light hearted. Raz’ul stood perfectly still for a moment, like he could get out of this dance if he just didn’t move. Then Splash said something and Raz’ul laughed and gave in, though the discomfort never completely left. Randy was going to give him so much hell for this. 

After one dance, Splash let him go. Raz’ul said something else to him and Splash rolled his eyes, shooing Raz’ul away. Raz’ul walked off the dance floor, looking around briefly. He caught sight of Randy and started his way. He leaned against the wall and slid down it to sit next to him. 

“Got something against chairs?”

“There weren’t any empty tables when I sat down,” Randy shrugged. “I wasn’t gonna be here long, so I figured I don’t need one anyway.” 

Raz’ul hummed quietly and nodded, apparently conceding Randy’s logic. He was looking forward, not really watching anything. 

“Splash a good dancer?” Randy wondered innocently. 

Raz’ul moaned and hid his face in his arms. “You saw that?”

“Oh yeah. Whole thing,” Randy smirked, looking over at Raz’ul. “How did that happen, anyway?”

“Oh, simple, I just asked him.”

“You _asked_ Splash to dance?”

“I wasn’t serious. I was just being a little shit and it backfired on me.”

“Serves you right.” Randy wasn’t really one to talk. He had a bit of experience with dumb jokes backfiring on him too. But they weren’t talking about him right now. “Anyway, Splash: good dancer?”

“Of course he’s a good dancer, he’s _Symbol_,” Raz’ul straightened up and looked over at Randy again, waving his arms slightly as though that emphasized his words. “What’d you expect?”

“There’s gotta be something he’s not good at.”

“Nah, he’s too old to be bad at anything. He’s had a lot of time to practice it all.”

After that, they sat together in silence, watching the dance floor. Randy continued slowly sipping at his drink until it was nearly finished and threw the last bit of it back. He pushed himself to his feet, took a step forward and looked back at Raz’ul. “I’m gonna head back out, you coming?”

“Sure thing.”

Randy smiled and held his hand out; Raz’ul took it easily. “May I have this dance, your highness?” Randy asked, putting on his best prim and proper voice.

Halfway to his feet, Raz’ul looked at the ceiling and groaned. “Please don’t remind me of my hubris. Also, cool it with the ‘your highness’ talk.”

“Relax, no one’s close enough to overhear. C’mon.” He gave his friend a break and released his hand once he was on his feet and he started walking away. He took a quick detour to drop off his empty cup.

They danced separately, even though, by this point, almost everyone else had paired off. It wasn’t really a bother to them though, at least not to Randy. Raz’ul kept glancing around curiously, though he didn’t seem uncomfortable with the situation. 

“_Should_ we dance?” he asked. Okay, maybe he was uncomfortable then? “I mean, like?” he gestured vaguely toward the couples nearby. 

“You know I was joking right? We don’t actually have to like. ballroom dance or whatever.”

“Yeah, but it could be fun,” Raz’ul shrugged. 

“I hardly even know how to dance.”

“I’m not gonna judge.”

“You know what, sure,” Randy figured he had nothing to lose and held his hand out to Raz’ul again. 

Randy had gone to some of the lessons Yashee had attended, partly to support her and partly out of curiosity. He didn’t really care about learning how to dance properly, but it was kind of interesting. 

A problem arose pretty quickly as both of them seemed to be trying to lead. Randy knew that it arguably made more sense for Raz’ul to be leading, seeing as he was the one who knew what he was doing. But it was also funny for them to be almost fighting each other for control. It resulted in bizarre and haphazard movements that they tried to keep away from the people nearby. 

“You know, if you don’t know how to dance, you shouldn’t really be leading?”

“I thought you weren’t gonna judge?” Randy smirked. 

“I- Well, I’m not. But the point still stands.”

“Come oonnn,” Randy droned. “It’s more fun this way!” he made his movements even more ridiculous, picking his feet up far more than was necessary and rocking back and forth. His exaggerated motions pulled Raz’ul closer toward him and got a laugh out of him. 

“Fair enough,” Raz’ul conceded, apparently giving up control and joining Randy in his over the top movement.

* * *

Symbol glanced around the hall, at the dancing couples and friends, at the groups off to the side, sitting and enjoying a drink. He felt a soft smile stretch across his face. Part of him hadn’t wanted to agree to this, to chaperone the dance, worried there would be some drama he’d have to deal with, some argument or fight to break up. But there hadn’t been. The whole evening, the atmosphere had been full of love. 

He caught glances of people he knew in the crowd, some of his upperclassmen students whose papers he still had to hand back, other teachers and staff on the edges of the crowd or working their way through. Mitch refilling his drink. Chaos Sauce spread across the dance floor.

Yashee was still dancing with Tabitha Wright. Symbol wondered if they’d taken a break, since he first caught sight of them at least a half hour ago, or if they were too wrapped up to consider it. On another part of the dance floor, Raz’ul and Randy were spinning around together. Their movements were wild and exaggerated, their smiles huge.

A figure appeared next to him, close by but not touching him. He turned his head to see Mitch offering him a smile and a cup. Symbol took the drink and smiled his thanks. 

“Having a good time?” Mitch wondered. 

Symbol took a sip and looked outward again. At all the smiling faces and dancing pairs. He stepped closer to Mitch, his shoulder just pressing against his. “Yeah.”

* * *

Tabitha walked down the hall with Chaos Sauce, amid the crowd of other students leaving the dance. It was hard to walk in a neat group that allowed them to talk, since they had to keep stepping to one side to allow people to pass or to move around a slower group themselves. Raz’ul and Randy were slightly ahead, while she and Yashee were behind. Their shoulders kept gently bumping as they moved through the crowded space. 

“So, what’s next?” Randy asked, glancing over his shoulder at them. 

“All that and you’re still not done?” Yashee sounded exhausted, but still smiled at her bandmate. 

“Course not. Don’t you know you can’t just go from sixty to zero? We need something to do to cool down after that, _then_ we can be done for the night.”

“Alright, well. What do you wanna do?”

“I don’t know! That’s why I asked!”

“We could head down to Legno Land,” Raz’ul offered thoughtfully. “I know some places down there are still open for a while longer. We could get a drink or a small bite?”

“That actually sounds pretty nice,” Tabitha mused. 

“Oo! Let’s get ice cream!”

“From the place that like. cuts up candy bars and mixes them in for you?”

“Where else?”

Tabitha watched the brief back and forth between the boys. She was pretty sure she knew the place they were talking about. “I don’t think I’ve ever been there.”

“Really? It’s so good!” Yashee glanced sideways at her.

“Yeah?” Tabitha shrugged. “I don’t actually go down there much. I think I’ve only been with you guys?”

“And we’ve never taken you for ice cream?” Yashee sounded scandalized. “We’ve gotta fix that, that’s definitely the plan.”

“Well, should we get changed and meet up somewhere?”

“No, we’ll just get fancy ice cream,” enough students had branched off to different hallways that Randy was able to turn around and walk backwards to talk to her. “Don’t you know that everything tastes better in a suit?” he flicked the lapels of his vest. 

“I don’t actually,” she smirked at him. “I’ve never worn a suit.”

“Don’t worry, the same is true for dresses.”

“Do you have experience on that front?”

“Yeah,” the simple and to-the-point answer was somewhat surprising. 

Apparently it was surprising to the other members of Chaos Sauce as well. “Wait, you’ve actually worn a dress before?” Yashee exclaimed. 

“I told you that when we were clothes shopping,” the reply was almost a question.

“You said you’d wear a dress to the dance if Yashee did, that’s not the same thing, man,” Raz’ul pointed out.

“Well, whatever. The point is everything tastes better in nice clothes. Plus it’s fun to wear fancy clothes to non-fancy places.”

“Okay, so we don’t get changed and just head straight down.”

“Wait,” Tabitha realized a potential flaw with this plan. “The library probably won’t be open right now. Will we even be able to get in?”

“_I_ will,” Randy glanced back over his shoulder and shot a wink at her. 

Part of Tabitha was worried about the potential trouble they were about to get in, but most of her was just looking forward to spending more time with her friends.


End file.
